Scholar's Celebration highlights student research and outreach

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During a presentation at the Nov. 19 Scholar's Celebration event in Muse Banquet Hall, three members of a nutrition and dietetics class discuss organic food and food production.

The Scholar's Celebration featured the varied work of the 2013-14 Scholar Citizen (SCI) class of student researchers on Nov. 19 in the Muse Banquet Hall.

Oral presentations, ePortfolio showings, poster presentations and individual discussion marked the gathering of undergraduate scholars who culminated a year of research in fields such as biology, dance, chemistry, nutrition and political science.

"This is quite a public display by students who have been engaged in a variety of unique ways," said Jeanne Meckolichick, assistant vice president of high impact practices. "Their breadth and depth has been impressive."

From two stages, Scholar-Citizens described their experiences and how they helped develop meaningful connections between their academic experiences and their personal, professional and civic lives.

In presenting her eportfolio, Kathryn Self, a senior biology and chemistry major, said, "It was a process of me wanting to know more and in the process, I am learning to talk about science to all kinds of people without, hopefully, talking over their heads."

Matti Hamed, a senior biology major, reflected on the value of her Scholar Citizen experience that included doing a herpetofaunal survey of amphibians and reptiles at the Selu Conservancy and a series of outreach activities such as sharing her growing nature knowledge and passion as a lecturer at Wildwood Park's Outdoor Classroom Lecture Series.

"On several levels, I have developed skills, like building a trap, speaking to a group, developing and presenting a professional poster and writing a grant proposal," she said. "I have been consistently delighted at what we found in the research and what I learned about myself."

The night's program included four Scholar-Citizen Highlander-in-Action ePortfolio Presentations by Emily Guise, Kathryn Selfe, Cassie Bonavita and Matti Hamed. It also featured a Scholar-Citizen Candidate ePortfolio presentation by Anna Phiri and a poster presentation by Will and Lindsay Dowd on organic gardening at Selu.

Two classes also made formal presentations at the event. A political science class presented "The Politics of Disasters and Crisis: A Policy Analysis of the Operations Plan for the City of Radford " and students from NUTR 405: Community Health and Cultural Nutrition presented nutrition education presentations targeted at four different groups.

Dec 2, 2014